The restaurant industry warns that 250,000 employees could be laid off under new COVID-19 restrictions. A judge denied a request for an injunction, but the trade group’s suit seeking to overturn the measure continues.
Paula Gardner
Paula directs the business reporting on Bridge, writing much of it and setting the strategy for how statewide business coverage fits into Bridge’s nonpartisan policy-driven editorial mix. Paula came to Bridge in 2020 after several years at MLive.com, where she covered the state on both business and environmental teams. Prior to that, she was editor of the Ann Arbor News and news director of online startup AnnArbor,com, and also focused on business news as an editor and reporter at Michigan Business Review. Born and raised in metro Detroit, Paula moved to Ann Arbor to attend the University of Michigan, and has lived in the city for 20 years with her husband, who grew up in their neighborhood. Paula also regularly visits East Lansing and Grand Rapids to visit her college-aged children. She can be reached at pgardner@bridgemi.com
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan business leaders fear more closures after 3-week COVID ‘pause’
Frustrations are mounting because Michigan’s restrictions don’t set goals for case counts. That’s prompted some leaders to fear the three-week ‘pause’ could stretch for many more weeks.
Posted inBusiness Watch
‘Shock and despair’ as Michigan bars, restaurants take another COVID hit
In a Q&A, the head of a licensed beverage industry group said the state’s three-week ban on indoor service is not justified by where outbreaks are happening and will devastate businesses and laid-off workers if relief doesn’t come soon.
Posted inBusiness Watch
This Michigan store was a dream come true. Coronavirus still has it on hold.
Not all stores in Michigan reopened or closed. Some are stuck in limbo, like this one, just outside Detroit, where the owner is still hopeful about reopening, when it’s safe.
Posted inBusiness Watch
COVID pushed people outdoors. Michigan’s ski industry is ready for them.
Recreational activity skyrocketed in Michigan through spring and summer. Now the state’s snowsports businesses hope they’ll get a similar burst of sales.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Michigan cracks down on workplace COVID rules, urges remote working
State health officials will be inspecting offices across the state for masks, social distancing and other compliance. Fines of $7,000 are possible if they find violations.
Posted inBusiness Watch
Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is being made in Michigan
The drug giant’s campus in Portage is the epicenter for one of several vaccines being developed as the world watches coronavirus cases climb once more.
Posted inMichigan Government
Detroit poll challengers were in same room, but had different accounts
Republican poll challengers say they were limited in where they could walk and who they could bring in during ballot counting at the TCF Center. Their Democratic counterparts (and an election official) counter that votes were counted professionally and it was the GOP that complicated the process.
Posted inMichigan Government
GOP calls for Michigan election probe. Officials say their claims are weak.
The Republican National Committee is deploying legal teams to Michigan and calling for a federal investigation into ‘irregularities’ But elections officials — including some Republican clerks — say their claims don’t add up to much.
Posted inMichigan Government
Reformer hired to fix Michigan’s unemployment system quits as problems mount
Steve Gray was brought in to resolve problems getting benefits that he helped expose. But a little more than a year into the job, he has resigned from the system that was overrun by the coronavirus pandemic.